Prokofiev Symphony No. 3 in c minor, Op. 44, "The Fiery Angel"
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- This symphony sometimes carries the nickname, "The Fiery Angel," after Prokofiev's opera of that title. The composer had composed that opera under contract to the Städtische Oper in Berlin and was to have it finished for that company's 1927 - 1928 season. But Prokofiev missed the deadline and, despite further negotiations with other opera companies, failed to attain a performance for the work. Because he had worked on it sporadically for nearly eight years, he was reluctant to let it languish unperformed, especially since he believed it contained some of his finest music. After hearing a Koussevitsky-led concert performance of the opera's second act in Paris, Prokofiev decided that the music might work well as a symphony, and thus embarked on fashioning his Third Symphony in 1928 from the then-unperformed opera, The Fiery Angel.
Like the opera, the Symphony has an otherworldly character about it, with much darkness and ethereality permeating its sound world. While each of the four movements relates to more than one aspect of the opera's twisted story, each is generally dominated by the music of a single character or scene or plot element. For example, the first movement deals mainly with the opera's disturbed main character, Renata, and her obsession with the fiery angel, who appears to her in visions. The music here is violent and dramatic, but mixed with passionately post-Romantic themes, the resulting contrasts providing color and an emotional roller-coaster ride that in the end yields some of Prokofiev's finest music from his middle period.
The second movement deals with the solace and serenity of the convent that Renata enters in the opera's last act. While the music is beautiful and eerie in its tranquility, Prokofiev always manages to suggest evil lurking around the corner.
The third and fourth movements contain music which in the opera deals with the story's darker elements: those of devil possession and witchcraft. The third is said to be inspired by the finale of the Chopin Piano Sonata No. 2, and undeniably the moods of the two works have much in common. Here, the scurrying strings play a theme that doesn't sound like a normal theme in its slithery and gossamer manner and in its soft dissonance and bizarre effects, which are divided into 13 parts! The finale, without doubt, contains the most violent and monstrous-sounding music in the symphony. This is a tour-de-force of horror music, with a brief middle section that recalls a tortured Romantic theme from the first movement.
0:00 - Moderato
12:52 - Andante
21:38 - Allegro agitato - Allegretto
29:58 - Andante mosso - Allegro moderato
Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Walter Weller, conductor 
Видеоклипы
34:35 I think the trumpet parts Prokofiev wrote for this passage are some of the most insane, amazing musical genius
The orchestration in the second movement is absolutely stupendous.
The brass orchestration in the first movement as well
Raw and passionate. Uncompromising in its primal ferocity.
I used to use this song for my boat ride.
At 64 I have been acquainting myself with Prokofiev's symphonies during the lockdown. This one is frightening!
Frighteningly amazing!
No Douwe Ziel, just frightening....it's intended to evoke images of demonic possession and the black arts.
I've done the same with the Second...
Luckily, I heard this one, the 3rd, at about 16 years old. Always one of my favorites!
Try Scythian Suite or Chout. Just learned Chout during lockdown.
My love of Scythian Suite started my odyssey with Prokofiev. 5th Symphony is also great. PS I'm 55 never too late to start.
Incredible composer.
Holy hell; the whole symphony is incredible, but the third movement is absolutely insane!
I love this symphony it is full of surprises and shocks .
New to Prokofiev and I have to say.. I was genuinely scared while listening to this. Freaking unbelievable
Welcome to the Machine Age, my friend!! Prokofiev communicates the FEAR of experiencing the overwhelming power of huge machines compared to the peace of an agrarian existance. Symphony was of the 1920's
If you want terror, listen to his Second Symphony or Scythian Suite
Prokofiev wrote film scores and this is the score to the fiery angel coming in your room and scarring you
ruclips.net/video/ZOIQq7t-BNE/видео.html
@@dang5874 Battle on the Ice is also a good example.
This work flies over peoples heads, it's just so musically ahead of its time. Dazzling, spectacular genius of a truly great, A+++ composer.
I know right? I was surprised at how underrated this symphony is, it’s absolutely my favorite symphony.
Yeah. Well. Too much stravinskian effects, not enough substance yet. So people were right. Luckily for us in 5 and 9th symphonies he delivered for ages.
@@AndreyRubtsovRU Uh, the 9th? Prokofiev only wrote 7, as far as I'm aware!
@@klop4228yeah, meant 5 & 7
Check out his second symphony, too! It took MANY more listens to understand and "get" it, than normal, but I love it.
That section beginning at 9:56 is so magical
I had to stop what I was doing and enjoy it even more
Many years ago, I listened to this section and watched nature, and I felt something not from our world..
That bell at 34:35 is absolutely haunting.
The bit at 34:36 has to be one of the most terrifying things I have ever heard. And I love it
One of my favourite moments in this symphony because it sounds absolutely demented
I fully expect that to play on December 31, 2020, at 11:59 PM. 🤣🤣
In the opera this is the exorcist scene - all the nuns are possessed and go into convulsions
@@christianvennemann9008 did you end up doing it?
@@andrewanderson3016 Of course! It added to the drama of that year and finished it perfectly
A MONSTER MASTERPIECE!
Thanks for posting this with the score. An extraordinary work, particularly the 3rd movement. Genius at work.
From the very beginning you can hear the rolling flames brought on stronger by a forceful wind which changes a bit into a subtle flutter of diminishing intensity. The kindling let's off accented sparks which crescendo into the fiery formality that characterizes the first movement. One can sense the origin of a sinister force that is at the core of it's origin
great performance! ...much better than many other "Fiery Angels" available on youtube
And underrated masterpiece
Как интересно слушать с партитурой, оказывается
Да... Есть в этом что-то!
0:00 - Moderato
12:52 - Andante
21:38 - Allegro agitato - Allegretto
29:58 - Andante mosso - Allegro moderato
Thank you
If you want to listen to a really terrifying interpretation of this symphony go to Claudio Abbado's version with the Londo Symphony Orch. on Decca
The Muti with the Philadelphia Orch is the best reading
Thank you so much!
There is a Prokofiev work that I like a lot. It is his quintet op.39 (vln, vla, cb, ob and cl)
I would be so grateful if you could do it!
Fig 77 16:41 makes me well up every time.
18:45 when it comes back is even better to me
35:52 that gives me goosebump lol but I like it
34:36 is what's gonna play on December 31, 2020, at 11:59 PM. 🤣🤣
lol so true, the start of a very horrible year.
13:30 to 14:29, perhaps the only part of this symphony with a key signature.
American reviews don't count
Extraordinary string writing n the 3rd movement. I can hardly follow it with the score so how on earth string sections manage to play it is beyond me.
A harshness housed with the heavenly herein.
22:57 just HOW did he compose this? How did he came up with every note and how did he manage to imagine this passage in his mind?
It looks like an example of 'formal' composition, you mix different voices in such a way that they would sound noisy together. No one can precisely imagine the result this in his mind.
@@hotpil7020 One could ask if this is still "composing" then
@@tarikeld11 Well maybe it is not in a classical sense. But recall that this music is from the opera, and the part describes demons trying to get in the room where the girl is. So you can hear how they scratch the walls (violin glissando) and thump on the door (timpani) etc. And the final effect is quite amazing, you can practically visualize this from the music.
I find myself asking this question for many of Prokofiev's pieces
I think it's the same way Bach composed his canons. Repetition with an awareness of harmony and orchestration.
9:51
God yes! Devastatingly beautiful and sad, sad, sad ...
Any scrolling-score videos (vocal score fine) of the opera Op.37 _itself_? I know it wasn't published until a few decades ago if not more recently still.
Even just of one scene.
I heard a recording of the opera on the radio years ago- in my opinion Prokofiev's reworking of this amazing material works much better as a symphony without the voices.
Watch the opera itself. Quite the thing.
6:07
7:17
STRAVINSKY VS. PROKOFIEV
They couldn't be more different.
I read an article saying "with his 3rd, Prokofiev has out Stravinski'd Stravinsky. I guess you can find a few passages that are similar to the Firebird, but this definately a far cry from Stravinsky.
@@richh9450 Funnily enough i think his 2nd symphony is more brutal than anything Stravinsky wrote or even anything that Prokofiev himself wrote because there's a lingering sense of uneasiness about it especially in the second movement
imo prokofiev sounds more tonal and makes more sense at least for me. i think at a certain point using too much dissonance and veering off course from musical expectations alienates the listener, which is something i think stravinsky does (not saying his music is bad, i love his firebird)
oh, my, god....i just discovered this after listening to rach2 (again)... was absolutely destroyed and massacred
I used to prefer Rachmaninoff to Prokofiev at first but over time I've noticed that Rach's pieces get increasingly boring whilst Prokofiev's get increasingly better the more you listen.
@@TheButterMinecart1 in a way, prokofiev's harmony is indeed more interesting, but its good to listen to rach to go "home" sometimes.
This is death metal)
So children, what is that cadence at the very end?....perfect, imperfect or plagal.
A very interesting Fact is that this symphony was directly influenced by F. Chopıns B flat minor Sonata op.35
Said by Prokofiev himself
Great master and everyone distances themselves from Prokofiev and chooses Shostakovich because he was a 24/7 martyr though protected by Stalin.
It's not a competition in the way you assert it. Very different paths; both had extraordinarily brilliant careers and each is revered in individualized ways.
I enjoy both. though i lean a little towards shostakovich as well...
I used to be the biggest Shostakovich fan when I was in high school. I even had a Shostakovich tee shirt. I played both piano concertos in college and then one day the clouds opened and Prokofiev just shined through. Prokofiev is more theatrical than Shostakovich, while Shostakovich can be a better craftsman. But here is where Prokofiev truly outshines everyone in the 20th century, and that is range. The Prokofiev sound can be found in the most intensely dramatic and contemporary sound like the 2nd and 3rd symphonies, or the Battle on the Ice and then turn on a dime and give the world Peter and the Wolf and the Classical Symphony. It's all Prokofiev.
I was under the assumption that, like Shosty, Prokofiev was one of the leading composers of the 20th century. Is this really a minority opinion? If it is im shocked. Also, both Prok and Shosty have composed some of my favourite works as well as some of my least favourite.
@@marcparella Prokofiev was a far more varied, interesting, and entertaining master, and seemed to enjoy living even when his career went down. Prokofiev and Shostakovich were great good friends.
I think Shostakovich used more tricks, and the biggest trick he used was dragging out the myth of the tormented misunderstood "too cool for school "19th century romantic which just about everyone buys because those in the public who can't seem to get it together in their lives identify with Shostakovich's "failure" -- his persecution -- when the truth is that Stalin actually protected Shostakovich -- otherwise he wouldn't have survived -- and really persecuted Prokofiev, which my late composer-critic friend Virgil Thomson outlines in a 27 Feb 1949 piece in The New York Herald Tribune included in A Virgil Thomson Reader. --- - Michael McDonagh aka MichaelScribe@gmail.com
Wow. Prokofiev wrote some great music, and I was under the impression this was supposed to be his masterpiece, but it's hot garbage.
Why?
@@stefansavic3459 It sounds like Penn Station in Manhattan at high noon. A cacophony.
@@StudSupreme Where you hear cacophony? Actually, it is full of melodies with some violent dissonances.
Youre not used to dissonance
Prokofiev is 'ight but he doesn't even compare to Haydn though
I disagree, Haydn sounds just like all the other famous classical composers. Prokofiev's music is completely unique to him, nobody, and I mean nobody has composed like Prokofiev. You can't compare him because he's completely out of the league of the other classical composers.
Apples and Oranges...
looney1023 exactly
looney1023 or perhaps 3 oranges
Janne Seppänen I wasn’t trying to be rude, but unfortunately for me, all classical music from before the 1800’s sounds the same to me. In structure and style. I understand that this may not be true for a lot of people, and I respect that, but for me there is something truly remarkable about the contemporary composers
didn't find the second movement all that memorable. Sorry, not sorry.
Keep listening... You'll get it. Prokofiev ages like wine.
no one cares , you yuppie dip
@@rubico1894 ok